My role is to make sure we're moving in the right direction, getting points, rebounds, steals, assists and providing leadership.
Kobe BryantRead
I have my own identity ... The whole Michael thing does drive me nuts sometimes because people won't leave it alone. He's bald, I have hair. He's almost 40, I'm 22. Seriously though, I wish people would let it be and let me just be Kobe.
Interpretation
Kobe Bryant expresses his desire for individuals to recognize him as his own person, separate from the comparison to Michael Jordan.
In this quote, Kobe Bryant emphasizes the importance of individual identity and the frustration that comes from constant comparisons to another figure, specifically Michael Jordan. He highlights key differences between himself and Jordan, such as age and appearance, and expresses a wish for people to acknowledge him as Kobe Bryant, rather than just an extension of someone else's legacy.
In practice
In a motivational speech about chasing personal dreams.
My role is to make sure we're moving in the right direction, getting points, rebounds, steals, assists and providing leadership.
It doesn't bother me at all. Do I hold any hard feelings? Not at all, ... Life is too short to sit around and hold grudges. I don't hold any whatsoever.
There's a difference [between taking a charge and flopping]. We all know what flopping is when we see it. The stuff that you see is where guys aren't really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water. That's kind of like, where are your balls at?
You're my backbone. You're a blessing. You're a piece of my heart. You're the air I breathe. And you're the strongest person I know, and I'm so sorry for having to put you through this and having to put our family through this.
Michael Jackson? He was something more (than one of my favorite entertainers), a true friend. He wasn't just a genius. Above all, he was a good person, who gave so much. He gave people values, he encouraged them to better themselves all the time. He was far deeper and more authentic than people could see. He was misunderstood too many times
I don't just try to score. The challenge is elevating my teammates to be able to win a championship.
I was always a little unsteady in my self-belief. Then there was the Jewish thing. I love being Jewish, I have no problem with it at all. But it did become like a scar, with all these people saying you don't look it.
I'd much rather people knew me as a good tennis player than as an aboriginal who happens to play good tennis. Of course I'm proud of my race, but I don't want to be thinking about it all the time.
I'm an actor. Since I was a teenager, I have had to play different characters, negotiating the cultural expectations of a Pakistani family, Brit-Asian rudeboy culture, and a scholarship to private school. The fluidity of my own personal identity on any given day was further compounded by the changing labels assigned to Asians in general.
I never learned how to be adequately black. I never learned how to be black at all.
When I first came to Harvard, I thought to myself, 'What kind of an Indian am I?' because I did not grow up on a reservation. But being an Indian is a combination of things. It's your blood. It's your spirituality. And it's fighting for the Indian people.
I now realize that I am a gay man before anything else. Other gays may think they're a Jew first, or black, or a banker, but I'm gay.
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